how do I know if my laptop soundcard is good enough?

[Glenn Mitchell]

What do I look for? All I found under "sound" is Realtek high definition audio.
It's a win 7 Asus that was supposed to be heavy duty CPU to run my professional architectural software and it does, but I didn't think to add in any special sound card.

[Oldrottenhead]

the main thing i think is it should be a full duplex card. that allows you to record and playback at the same time. and it should have a line in. but i am no expert im sure others on here can give better feedback.

[Glenn Mitchell]

Thanks, maybe I can phone the guys who sold it to me tomorrow.
I'm hoping to use it with Sonar to avoid the fan noises of my desktop.

[Flash Harry]

The main problem with laptop sound cards in my experience is the amount of noise on the inputs and outputs. It's all very close to the 1's and 0's. You can get decent enough external soundcards for not too much cash which gets around this problem. Or you can get a dedicated outboard audo unit like the Saffire Pro kit, which is bloody top notch. Probably as much as your laptop though.

I still say get a Edirol UA-4FX. They're remarkably well spec'd and very flexible.

[Glenn Mitchell]

Thanks FH. I did spring for the BR800 so would be using that as the interface for Sonar. Looks like a terrific unit but still does not deal with the sound card issue..or does it? Is it handling playback too?

[64Guitars]

For what purpose do you intend to use your sound card? For games, YouTube videos, etc., just about anything will do, unless you're very particular about that. For music, don't use your sound card. Use the BR-800 instead. When your BR-800 is connected to your computer as an audio interface, you can connect some good monitors to the BR-800's Line Out. Then your sound card isn't a factor because the BR-800 is doing all the work. The BR-800 acts as a high quality soundcard, providing analog-to-digital conversions to get sounds into your computer via USB, and digital-to-analog conversions to play back digital audio via USB and the BR-800's Line Out / Headphones.

For that matter, you could even use your BR-800 with some good monitors to get better sound with games, etc.

[Glenn Mitchell]

I'm excited to hear that the BR can work as the sound card for Sonar.
I didn't get that part. That's what I'll do.
I thought the computer was in charge of sound for the Sonar functions.
So that clears up my question about Flash Harry's device too.
I just remembered during setup, Sonar asking for the sound card on my PC and stopped thinking at that point.
Thanks.

[64Guitars]

I thought the computer was in charge of sound for the Sonar functions.
So that clears up my question about Flash Harry's device too.
I just remembered during setup, Sonar asking for the sound card on my PC and stopped thinking at that point.

From the Options menu in SONAR, select "Audio..." then click the Drivers tab. You'll see lists of all of the Input and Output drivers currently available on your computer, including your soundcard and (if it's connected) the BR-800. You can send SONAR's output to the soundcard, the BR-800, or both by checking/unchecking the appropriate boxes. For best quality sound, I'd suggest unchecking everything except the BR-800. Do the same with the inputs.

Sometimes, you might just want to listen to something and not bother connecting the BR-800. In that case, make sure the output driver for your soundcard is selected or you won't get any sound from SONAR. It's easy to forget where you last set the output driver, so it's a good idea to check it each time you start SONAR and make sure it's set to the output device you want to use for that session.

[Glenn Mitchell]

Right good ideas.
Sonar needs a little note you can leave about settings.
Thanks again.